Black History Month

I almost forgot it existed, probably because the annual proceedings barely scratch the surface when it attempts to pay homage, if you will, to the history of Africans in America. This is the one month in the year during which the law of the land requires us White folk to acknowledge that Black people are, in fact, people, just like us, and these people have a history.

Speaking of history, when was the last time you opened a history text in school and found a photograph of the proprietor of an American plantation whipping one of his insubordinate Black slaves into submission? How often did you read a story about White men lynching their Black neighbours and being acquitted? How come the White Babe Ruth is touted as the greatest home-run hitters baseball has ever seen and no mention is given to Josh Gibson?

Ruling-class propaganda designates February - the shortest, coldest month of the year - as "Black History Month" as some sort of concession aimed to erase all the wrongdoing it did. There should be no need for a "Black History" month because Black history is our history. We wouldn't need so many Black human rights advocates had we not persecuted these people in the first place. The blood is on our hands, and there isn't a Presidential speech in the world that can wash it off.

That, dear Reader, is what "Black History Month" means to me.